Part of the military arsenal seized from Baldwin, Maine, man in November 2001. The cache included heavy machine guns, bazookas, 81 firearms and 20,000 rounds of ammunition. / 2001 AP photo

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

Responding to a newspaper request for public records, Maine's governor Tuesday signed legislation to temporarily shield the identities of state residents licensed to carry concealed weapons.

Gov. Paul LePage signed the emergency measure that sailed through both houses of the Legislature. Two powerful pro-gun Democrats co-sponsored the bill, which Page, a Republican, proposed Friday.

The action keeps permit-holder's information private until April 30. Lawmakers said the action was necessary so they could further debate a Republican lawmaker's proposal to permanently ban release of the records under the state's Freedom of Access Act.

Wednesday, the Bangor Daily News filed requests with law enforcement agencies and municipalities for information about concealed-carry permit holders, though it stated it did not intend to publish the data. The newspaper then withdrew its request Friday.

In addition, the Portland Press Herald reported that "a little-known Florida man" made an "anonymous request" for permit-holder information, which was the "impetus for lawmakers to bring the emergency legislation forward."

Concealed-carry permit records have been public records since at least 1985, the Press Herald writes:

The legislative action to the perceived threat to public appears to be a first. There have been no bills proposed to make the concealed weapons permit data private since 2003, according to a search conducted by the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library

The move by lawmakers comes as advocates for the state's sunshine law warn about the ramifications of shielding the information, which is used to ensure that officials who award the permits have been diligent in screening applicants. In some cases, town governing boards are reviewing applications and granting permits, not law enforcement.

There is also growing sentiment that the dust-up has been inflamed by some lawmakers and the Maine Republican Party for political gain and to conflate a privacy debate with the sensitive topic of gun ownership. The belief was reinforced among some when the Maine Republican Party used the newspaper flap to appeal for donations.

In a statement, Senate Republican leader Michael Thibodeau called the emergency bill a "common-sense measure" that needed to be enacted immediately "to protect gun owners and non-owners, alike."

The head of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association said he did not know of any concealed-carry permit holder who had been a crime victim because his or her identity had been made public.

Rep. Brian Jones, one of only 11 House Democrats who voted against the bill, argued that the urgency was manufactured.

"We're using this as a political football," he said. " ... This is not an emergency, this is a political emergency."

The Maine debate over whether gun owner's identities should be protected follows in the wake of the furor created by a New York newspaper's mapping of licensed gun owners after the December massacre of Connecticut school children. The backlash against the Westchester Journal News, which is published by Gannett, the parent company of USA TODAY, resulted in a January law limiting public access to gun owner's information.